Skate.



e, H. BROWNE. SKATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7. I915 Patented May 2, 1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C04, WASHINGTON, D. c.

bit

GEORGE E. BROWNE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SKATE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 2, 1916,

Application filed April 7, 1915. Serial No. 19,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BROWNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a compensating device for rendering efiicient a low stanchioned, allsteel skate.

One of the greatest handicaps in the progress of artistic skating has been due to the imperfect form of the skate blade, which has made all skating difficult. The secret of all good skating is balance and control; and, since these fundamentals are so hard to get on hitherto available skates, most young people have given up attempts at figure skating for the reason that it is difficult to attain and requires too much practice to secure the required result. The reason for failure to accomplish this difiicult feat with the skates as commonly constructed, is that the skates are too high, too nearly level, or even higher at the toe than at the heel, too sharp rocked, or too fiat, and seldom located at a point near the middle of the foot, where the skate must be to insure any balance at all.

The object of the present invention is to produce a low skate without the danger of the soles striking the ice, which would tend to cause the skater to fall; and at the same time to produce a skate which will relieve the ankles without letting the edges of widesoled shoes interfere, when thebody of the person skating is inclined.

It is my aim in the present invention to efiect such a change in the design or form of constructionof a skate blade as toproduce a skate adequate to the. most exacting demands of up-to-date scientific skating. I accomplish this by-producing a design of blade such as will serve tobring the foot of the skater close to the ice, thereby reduc ing the strain upon the skate and preventing the strength of the skater from being unduly overtaxed, at the same time reducing to a minimum the danger of the edge of the boot sole to which the skate is attached contacting with the ice when the body of the skater is inclined in the normal act-of skating. This is specifically accoms plished by a compensating device incorporated in the construction of the blade 7 which is widest at the point where the danger is most likely to occur. The skate blade whlch I have shown embraces the unique combination of splay taper and rock of the blade, all of which will be more fully hereinafter described.

The present rapid development of artistic skating has required a more efficient skate to meet the exacting requirements of the art. In ordinary plain skating, progression upon the ice is confined to straight zigzag lines, attained by a thrust of one foot and a glide upon the other. To accomplish this, skates of ordinary construction will suffice. For speed skating, long, narrow, flat blades are required but for scientific or fancy skating blades of this description would not meet the requirements. This form of skate and this method of progression would not meet the demands which the most elementary, artistic skating of today makes upon even the least proficient fancy skater. The motive power in most figure skating is generally by the movement of the body inclined out of equilibrium, pushing or pulling against the almost frictionless ice with the edge of the skate. The greatest skill and judgment are, at the present time, required in the construction of the edge for the movements in modern artistic skating are always in curved lines. I

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a skate made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 3 is a sectional 'view on line 33 of Fig. llooking in -the direction of the arrow.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings, 1 designates the blade of the skate having two stanchions 2 and 3, the former of which supports the toe plate 4 and the other the heel plate 5, the point of connection, however, between the toe and heel plates being at one side of the longitudinal center-of the respective plates, this construction serving to, protect the ankle of the skater by preventing the turning of the blade. It will be noted that the front stanchion is farther forward than is usual upon skates, and so positioned as to increase both the efliciency of the skate and the strength of construction (by shortening the free portion of 'the skate'and rendering it less likely to break), at the same time providing a suitable place formy compensating device. The said forward stanchion is made much. lower than usual in skates (in the largest sizes not higher than 1% inches and in the smaller sizes, and ladies models, still lower).

At or near the pointdesignated by letter a :(it varies slightly with different sizes),

, the blade is thlClKGS'tflLCljf/XCGHC to the rear end of the forwardstanchi'on; and the blade tapers instraight lines from the thickest porti'onjto the heel, as shown clearly in Fig. 2,

thereby producing the same effect as a parallel-bladed skate, but facilitating softer changes of e'dge on the ice, because the skater does not have to turn over so much steel to change from one edge to the other. The

' blade also tapers from'the thick portion to the toe on gentle curves; so that the blade, viewed from the bottom, is of the general shape shown in Fig. 2, the swelling or Widening "portion being'thickest at the point of lowest elevation usually not over Wide). It is obvious'th'a't any inclination of'the body of theskater from'the perpendicular will tilt the skatesidewise, which will havethe effect of producing a sharp rock and compel a turn, thereby relieving the danger of the edges of the sole striking the ice. This is the "essential feature of novelty in the present invention, and, combined with this tapering o'f' the blade'from the danger point of 'stri king is a cooperating sharpening of the rock (thatis, the curve to whichthe skate is 'ground from toe to heel, 011 the bottom). Between the stanchions', the skate is ground rather-flat, to run on, in big curves. To facilitate "executing turns on the ice, the

radius of the curve is shortened from each stanchion to the extremities of the blade. While many skates have features whereby certain figures may be made with the blades, the degree of the forward increase of rock andi'ts combination withtheforward tapering' of the blade, enables'the skater on my skate to cut such 'figures more efficiently and with less'danger of striking the edge of the boot thanw'ould be possiblewi'th the ordin'ar'y constructionbf skate. Hitherto, the skate has generally been ground 'to a. uniformjcircular curve ofa radiu's varying from 4-1,; to? feet. To distinguish the curve. to

' which fthebottom-of'the skate blade is. ground from "the curve which it euts'on the ice, we generally call it the rock of the skate. Obviously,the flatter the rock, the easier it tic skating; the sharper therock, the easier it is to execute small curves, loops and turns and the harder it is to glide on big curves and spirals on a stable balance.

An important technical and structural advantage is secured in this new skate by the position of the frontstanchiun. This is further forward than in any o'ther skate. This position shortens the forward free portion of the blade and this strengtheningenables the manufacturer to apply 'the innovation without weakening this 'po'rtionof the blade, which is always more eliicient if unattached. The lateral strain on this free toe of the'new skate is further relieved by the design of the upturned portion, which enables it to engage in a narrow slot in thewelt of the boot and still "more free, unattached. The forward position of this stanchion furtherenables the manufacturer to place the compen sating device for the reduced elevation of'tlio, skate at 'just the point where it is most effectire for its novel purpose, and also at ,just the pointmost effective for cooperating-with the changing rock of the blade to-overco1ne the hitherto unsurmountable difiicul'ty in providing a single blade by means of'which a skater can execute both 'big long curves and spiral-s and also sharp turns and little loops without bruising the ice. The discovery of this point has resulted in the perfection of the invention of a unique shape of blade, which secures for the first time the above mentioned efliciency in a single skate blade adequate 'tothe demandsof the highestdevelopmentof the skating a'rt today and.v at the-same time, keepsthe blade so low that the strength of even so-ca'lled weaka'nkles is not overtaxedand the danger o f'hit ting the edges of the boot sole on the "ice when the skater inclines his body is successfully obviated. I

."l l-iefurther structural essentials of "this invention are as follows: At a point adjacentto the rear of the front stanchion (which is itself well forward), the'blade is thickest. From this point backward, in converging straight lines (or edges) the blade narrows to the heel (as much. as is compatible with strength); and'from "this same point forward, as 'far as the cutting edge is commonly used, the blade tapers in converging curved lines or edges '(as much as is compatible with strength); and from this point "for- Ward too. the rock of the blade begins to growsharper ratherrapidly, but backward, 1

I at

point of lowest elevation, provides a cutting edge of such eflicient rock that turns and loops are easily out clean on it.

The construction of a skate in accordance with my invention preserves all the advantages of the normal parallel or uniformly splayed blade, when ground to a similar curve. By my combined rock and taper, at or near the point of lowest elevation, the skate is given a quality which no other here- ,tofore used has possessed. The compound curve, produced by the taper and the sharpening of the rock, relieves the low skate of all danger of hitting the ice; and a blade is provided which will be eiiicient both for running on big, easy curves and for turning on sharp curveswithal a safe skate, lower than heretofore produced, and therefore more serviceable for more kinds of use than ever before in the history of the skating art.

By the provision of a skate made in accordance with my invention, this easy construction of the skate renders it particularly available for beginners of both sexes, with weak or strong ankles, and also for pairskating.

What I claim to be new is 1. In a skate of the character described,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, iltfashington, D. 0.

a skate blade having its thickest part at a point slightly to the rear of the front stanchion of the skate and converging from this point in straight lines to the thinnest part of the blade at the heel, as shown and described.

2. In a skate of the character described, a skate blade having its thickest part at a point slightly to the rear of the front stanchion of the skate and converging from this point in curved lines to the extreme forward end of the cutting edge of the blade in normal use, as shown and described.

3. A skate of the character described, comprising a skate blade having its thickest part at a point slightly to the rear of the front stanchion of the skate and converging from this point in straight lines to the thinnest part of the blade at the heel and converging in curved lines to the extreme forward end of the cutting edge of the blade in normal use, as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses GEORGE H. BROWNE. Witnesses M. J. SMITH, Bnssn L. SHAW. 

